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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293765">The Killing Joke: Under the Red Hood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasontodd908/pseuds/Jasontodd908'>Jasontodd908</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Marriage, Morality, Murder, Nihilism, Revenge, handicapped, happy endings, proposal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:28:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293765</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasontodd908/pseuds/Jasontodd908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Barbara Gordon was crippled by the Joker, the entire extended Bat Family took it hard. But none as hard as one Jason Todd. Joker thinks that he can finally win, and finally show that deep down he's not the only one. Jason isn't out for anything. He just wants Joker dead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barbara Gordon/Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>Gotham General Hospital</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Dick...I’ll lay you the fuck out right now”.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh really? You piece of shit, where the hell were you when she needed you?”</p><p> </p><p>Dick Grayson’s fist swings out, ready to impact against Jason’s jaw, but he’s much quicker. The anti-hero ducks down and avoids the impact, twisting his body so that he’s has moved around the former Robin’s back and twisted his arm in such a way that he is prevented from any further attacks.</p><p> </p><p>Dick winces and moans, while the hospital staff look on nervously, ready to intervene. “I don’t care what you think Grayson, I don’t give a flying fuck right now. WHERE.IS.SHE?” he seethes, growing against the back of the man’s head.</p><p> </p><p>Grayson cries out in pain as Jason pulls his arm closer and closer, almost popping it out of his socket. “Room...room 213” he chokes out, before he’s pushed forward and dropped onto the floor. He barely has enough time to turn to see Jason’s back, the man heading up towards the room number that had been given to him. </p><p> </p><p>The other man didn’t care, and moved with a purpose he hadn’t felt since the first days he’d donned the Red Hood, and it seemed to emanate off of his very being, forcing nurses and doctors out of the way. He sees the room number up ahead, and the two police officers standing outside of it.</p><p> </p><p>Harvey Bullock steps forward, a worried expression coming onto his partner, Renee Monotya’s face. “Harvey don’t…</p><p> </p><p>It’s too late. Bullock had already raised his hand, gesturing for the dark haired younger man to stop. “Sorry kid, this is police busines..”</p><p> </p><p>“Out of my way Bullock, or I’ll go through you” he says, assuming a combat stance reflexively. “You and what army kid? Bruce Wayne’s ward or no Bruce Wayne’s ward you ain’t getting in”.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m her fiancee” he says, hoping to avoid violence against the GCPDs “finest” while fighting the urge to do exactly that that bubbles up inside of him. </p><p> </p><p>Bullock’s face falls, and he can see it in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>He was a good man at heart. Still, he had a job to do, and he opens his mouth one last time to try and do it. “Harvey just...let him in? For a little while huh?” Montoya asks, putting her hand on the man’s shoulder and calming him down, bringing him off the ledge. </p><p> </p><p>Bullock turns and sighs, nodding. “Alright” he says, looking back at Jason. “You have ten minutes. Ya hear? Ten”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason nods, watching the larger man move to the side before he moves towards the door. He looks at Montoya, a slight smile on his lips as he tries his best to communicate his thankfulness. She returns it, and reaches forward to open the door for the man. The darkness opens like the devil’s own maw before him, and he finds himself scared for the first time. He’d died once. He remembered the darkness and the pain before seeing that far off light. Then he’d been sucked back into a whole other kind of darkness.</p><p> </p><p>Hed dug his way out of his own grave.</p><p> </p><p>But this? This was different. This was horror on a grand scale. </p><p><br/>Still, he moves forward, knowing in his heart that he’d never do anything less. He steps into the hospital room, illuminated only by the light at the opposite end and the random assortment of beeping sounds and the luminescence of monitors. He looks towards the center of the room, the door closing behind him as his eyes settle on the figure in bed. </p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but smile. Even now, she looked beautiful, with her red hair splayed out over the pillow behind her. He looks down in shame, seeing the random assortment of cuts and bruises that dotted her skin, almost at random. He knew that wasn’t the case though. The madman that did this? He never did anything at random. Every cut, every single one, was meant to hurt. Meant to convey a message. </p><p> </p><p>He wanted to turn around, leave and never come back. Forget the horrible vision in front of him. But he can’t. His eyes travel to the band on her ring finger, a small diamond atop it.</p><p> </p><p>Hed given it to her three days prior.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I thought...well….” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Thought what? Come on Jason, spit it out” </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em> He’d gotten down on one knee instantly, still wearing the hood as the two vigilantes stood atop one of Gotham’s numerous large buildings. Her eyes went wide under her cowl, and her hand went to her mouth in shock. </em> <em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em> <em> “I’m not good at this. I’m not but...I...I was wondering if you’d marry me” </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Slowly she nods, gasping for a moment before pulling her hand away from her mouth, bringing it down to him and offering it. With a smile, he quickly throws off his helmet, revealing his face as he reaches up and pulls her yellow glove off, revealing her hand. He kisses it once, twice and finally a third before pulling out the ring box from his pocket.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I uhh..guess I should’ve shown you the ring first right?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> She laughed, a tear filled laugh. “That’s fine. I figured with you that you’d get it all mixed up anyway” she says. He just smiled and rolled his eyes, opening it and exposing the simple band and diamond he’d chosen for her.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Her eyes widen, and the smirk fades. “Ohh Jason! It’s beautiful!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Glad you like it babe”. </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em> He slipped it onto her finger slowly, savoring the moment that he saw as the physical proof that she loved him. ‘Me, the street kid who went bad with an angel’ he had thought, looking up at the woman who did indeed seem angelic to him. </em> <em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em> <em> He slips the band onto the base and slowly lifts his hand away, standing in front of the woman who brings her hand up to her face, admiring the ring and how it looked on her hand. “So..I’m Mrs. Barbara Todd now huh?” </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “For as long as you want to be” he had said, wrapping his arm about her waist and bringing her into him, kissing her lips passionately. She returned the kiss with equal vigor, pouring out as much of her love into it as she could.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> She pulls away, smiling as she leans her still masked forehead against his. “So...forever then?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Till death do us part” he says, causing her to laugh aloud. “Jason...you already came back from the dead once. I doubt it’ll end there for us”. </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em> “Ohh right” he says teasingly, as if he’d forgotten. “Then I guess forever it is red”. </em> <em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em> <em> He’s about to kiss her again when an explosion from down the street rocks the entire block, causing the two to stumble. They rush forward, scanning the street to see a bunch of Two Face’s goons making an attempt on the bank. </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Hero time?” he asks, scooping up his mask and replacing it, watching as Barbara slips on her glove. “Hero time baby” she says back, pulling out her grappling hook and shooting it off into the night, no doubt planning on swooping in from above. Jason just smiles at her disappearing form in the darkness before retracting his pistols and readying them.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ‘Rubber bullets’ he says to himself, wincing at how much the redhead had rubbed off on him. He just shrugs and leaps over the side of the building, deciding to provide the ground attack to his Barb’s aerial.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “My Barb” he says aloud to himself, smiling under his mask. ‘Forever’. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He shakes those thoughts away, and again looks back at the ring on her finger. “I made a promise” he reminds himself, moving forward to the side of the hospital bed and pulling out the chair next to it. He sits down and takes his hand, gently rubbing her knuckles with his fingers. “Hey Barb” he says, half hoping she wouldn’t hear him. </p><p> </p><p>Instead, her eyes open, and she blinks a few times, looking up at the ceiling before turning her head ever so slightly to see who had been touching her. “J...Jason?” she asks weakly, causing the man to hide his pain with a fake smile. He stands up and leans over her, kissing her cheek gently. “Know any other handsome vigilantes?” he asks teasingly, causing her to smile. It was a weak one though, just like his.</p><p> </p><p>“A few” she retorts before adding, “but none as handsome as you”.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good. I’d hate to have to eliminate my competition”.</p><p> </p><p>She laughs lightly, though it’s clear it hurts her lungs and after a second Jason stops her, reaching forward to rub her cheek. “Shhh, shh Barb. Just relax alright”.</p><p> </p><p>He caresses her skin, hating how sallow and pale it looked in the slivers of light allowed through the rooms. Her eyes widen and she makes to move up once again, gasping and writhing as her body just barely responds to her. Still, she isn’t able to get up past a few inches. She falls back, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looks at her fiancee.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t feel my legs Jason”.</p><p><br/>The man makes to open his mouth, try and explain away her sadness and the life changing injury she’d sustained as nothing more than a hiccup. But he couldn’t. His usual flippancy failed him, and the broken sound of his love’s voice hit right to the core of his soul. He takes her hand harder and squeezes it, wanting to give her some sensation of closeness. </p><p> </p><p>“I know Barb. I know”.</p><p> </p><p>“They said I’ll never walk again” she continues. “That..that I’m crippled. He crippled me! The bastard!” she shouts before crying, turning her head to try and avoid letting him see her tears. It doesn’t work at all, and he reaches out to grasp her chin with his free hand, turning her back to look at him. Her tear soaked eyes land on his, and she sees that tears of his own were making their way down the other man’s cheeks. “Barb...I know. I know”.</p><p> </p><p>She knew that he understood. Better than anyone else in their little family. He’d been the one who’d lost the most personally to the Joker at this point. His mother, his life, his dignity and innocence. <br/><br/>She closes her eyes and just tries to let Jason’s touch comfort her, even when the situation is utterly unsalvageable. Silence falls over the two, and Jason hates to be the one to break it. “Barb...he has your father”.</p><p> </p><p>She nods her head knowingly, having already gone over this with the police and Bruce, in the guise of Batman before. “Yes”.</p><p> </p><p>“I need to know what he said to you”.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going after him?” she whispers fiercely.</p><p><br/>“.....Yes”.</p><p> </p><p>“And you’re going to kill him?”</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t answer this time, but she can see it in his eyes. This was the end of the line. Joker would die tonight, finally having pushed one particular member of the bat family too far. She wanted to argue, tell him to leave it to Bruce and not kill the man. She had all the normal arguments ready, all the ones she’d had numerous times before. </p><p> </p><p>She turned her head and looked down at her legs, which now lay uselessly under the blanket. All her stolen memories flashed into her mind. She’d never walk, feel sand under her feet again. She’d never make love to Jason, or dance with him at their wedding. She’d never have their children, or play tag with them. Joker had stolen all of that.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Here’s to crime” he said sinisterly, his evil smile leering over him as he undressed her, exposing her naked and bleeding body to the camera. The flashes of the camera went off numerous times, reminding her of the gunshot that had been fired into her midsection and her spine. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She looks up at Jason and sees the grim determination on his face. Images of the crowbar coming up and down, blood and viscera on it as it raises and lowers, enter her mind as well, and their mutual pain is enough to kill those arguments against it in her heart.. </p><p> </p><p>Jason had just as much reason to hate the Joker as her. </p><p> </p><p>“Bruce already went after him” she says, as if that would deter the man. He just nods, having already figured that. “I’ll get there first”.</p><p> </p><p>Barbara is silent, not knowing what to do. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t...you...you come back! Okay? Just…”.</p><p> </p><p>He reaches out and kisses her cheek once more, running his hands through her hair. “I know Barbara. I know” he says, smiling down at her and just looking into her eyes. “What?” she asks, still tear streaked and her voice choppy. He laughs lightly and smiles, trying to find something, anything, to say. </p><p> </p><p>“Nothing” he says, trying to pretend that the issue before them was just another day. <br/><br/></p><p>It didn’t work.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m just thinking about how sexy you look in a hospital gown”.</p><p> </p><p>The way it rolled out of his mouth, and the way his eyes stayed attached to hers, it was all to surreal. Barbara laughs, smiling before laughing harder and harder. Jason turns, not able to see how those laughs turn to sobs. He exits the room, quickly, brushing past Bullock and Montoya, almost knocking the large man to the side. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey!”</p><p> </p><p>“Easy Harvey...easy” Renee says, focused on the man’s back as he recedes down the hall. “Something tells me you don’t want to pick a fight with him. Not tonight”.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Gotham City, Jumping Jack’s Funhouse</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>He shot his pistol, watching as the round buried itself in the clown attired goon’s kneecap, shattering the bone and sending the man sprawling to the ground in pain. He reaches out for his fallen weapon, though Jason’s boot is quicker.</p><p> </p><p>He sends it crashing down on his fingers, breaking the entire hand as he does.</p><p> </p><p>“Where.Is.He?”</p><p> </p><p>The goon looks up at the man in the biker jacket and the red hood, the red bat symbol on his chest splayed out like a demon. “I...I…”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason brings the pistol up, placing it against the man’s temple. “3….2….”.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s in the funhouse! He’s in the funhouse! Please..please don’t kill me!” the man sobs, though it draws no sympathy from the vigilante standing above him. “What’s he planning?”</p><p> </p><p>“He...he’s got Gordon. Yeah! He...he said he wanted to prove something...something about...one bad day! Yeah that’s it!”.</p><p> </p><p>“And this little show of his is all for Batman right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah, it always is. Please..that’s all I know! Don’t kill me”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason raises his boot and brings the steep toe down on the man’s head. Not enough to kill him, but just enough to knock him out and give him something to remember. </p><p> </p><p>He steps over the prone body, looking up towards the abandoned ruins of the once happy place. Now? It was lit up again, though in a much more macabre manner than the original builders had ever intended. </p><p> </p><p>The sound system crackles to life, echoing throughout the seemingly abandoned park. He knew it wasn’t though. He could feel the eyes on him, watching and tracing his every step. “Yooohooo...Hoodie? That you?” the Joker’s voice calls out, the sound echoing throughout the park. “It is isn’t it? Well...now...this is quite the pickle” he teases out.</p><p> </p><p>Jason just begins walking, his two nine pistols drawn and in his hand. He says nothing. He just keeps walking towards the funhouse. </p><p> </p><p>“What? No promises of violence? No intent to kill me? This is weird...I don’t like it” Joker says just as one of the deformed midgets that he had dressed up as a cherub jumps out at Jason. Without missing a be he grabs the diminutive assailant by the throat, choaking and surprising the minion and slamming him through the wall of a nearboy game stand. He retracts him, sending splinters from the destroyed wood into his skin. </p><p> </p><p>The midget cries out in pain, though Jason doesn’t release his grip on his throat. He continues to walk, still holding the would be assassin before slamming his head through one of the cardboard cutouts that people used to place their heads in for pictures. He leaves him there, drawing a strange laugh from the Joker.</p><p> </p><p>If he didn’t know any better, he would think that the man was afraid.</p><p> </p><p>“You spoiled brat” the crown prince of crime seethes. “This isn’t for you! Scram!”</p><p> </p><p>His words go unheeded and Jason steps up onto the monorail system just outside the fun house. He sits in one of the cars, its paint chipped and decayed. “YOU’RE RUINING MY PLANS!!”</p><p> </p><p>Jason just sits quietly, his eyes set dead ahead of him, readying himself to go on the offensive. He draws his pistol and shoots the controls, sending the ride sputtering to life. The car jolts forward, moving past the rubber strips that were all that separated the ride from the outside world. </p><p> </p><p>Jason moved forward, propelled into the darkness.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>A Few Miles Away</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Bruce turned the batmobile onto the exit ramp, almost peeling out before narrowly avoiding a parked car. He continues on, rumbling towards the abandoned circus grounds.</p><p> </p><p>“Master Bruce” the communications buzz to life, though it takes all his power to answer them. He felt an icy grip around his heart, one that hadn’t let up since Barbara was shot and Jim Gordon was taken. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes Alfred” he responds, seemingly after an eternity.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh thank heavens. Master Dick has called from the hospital. It appears Jason has been to the hospital” he says.<br/><br/>Bruce nods, having expected so.</p><p> </p><p>“Is he still there?”</p><p> </p><p>“No...he...he stormed out. Master Bruce..”</p><p> </p><p>Bruce just closes his eyes for a second and shakes his head, knowing exactly where Jason had gone. He opens them and seethes, gritting his teeth. “DAMMIT JASON!!”</p><p> </p><p>“Master Bruce…”.</p><p><br/>“I’ll stop him Alfred”.</p><p><br/>The silence on the other end of the line is deafening and it sets off warning bells in the caped crusader’s head. </p><p> </p><p>“I think you should let him”.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>Bruce is shocked, utterly shocked. Alfred was suggesting that they let Jason kill the Joker? It was...absurd. Ever since he’d started this crusade, Alfred had been steadfast in supporting Bruce’s commitment to not taking a life.</p><p> </p><p>“I..I can’t get the images of Barbara out of my mind Master Bruce. I see her...lying in that bed...broken...and he’s done it before” the man says, the years of holding back evident in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Alfred…”.</p><p> </p><p>“Young Master Todd as well, beaten to death, with a crowbar before being blown up” he goes on, anger now in his words. “How many more lives must be taken Bruce? Surely this one...madman..this, this...demon! It would be better if he were not alive at all”.</p><p> </p><p>“We..we can’t do this Alfred. We can’t go down this path” he says, urgently needing to brush all these doubts and inner rages to the side. He needed to stay focused and ready. </p><p> </p><p>Alfred remains silent before acquiescing as he always does. “Very well Master Bruce. But please, I implore you..”.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll bring Jason back safe” he promises, moving to click the comms button off and sever the call. “Batman out”.</p><p> </p><p>He clicks it off, the only sound audible to him now being the drone of the Batmobile’s engine. He needed to end that call. He couldn’t hear what his oldest and most trusted confidant had to say. He couldn’t, not when so many doubts were already circulating in his mind. ‘Barbara’, he thinks, gripping the steering wheel in a rage. </p><p> </p><p>He focuses on the road, knowing that he’d soon be at his destination. </p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t do it Jason. Don’t’.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>The Funhouse</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>He stepped out of the car, watching it cascade into the black abyss that ended the track. He skirted the side wall, having been able to see the drop coming a long ways off. Joker was predictable. So far he’d been able to evade every single one of his traps and ambushes, pushing past them with a breeze.</p><p> </p><p>It had only served to anger the increasingly unhinged Joker. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t like repeating myself but...THIS ISN’T FOR YOU!” he seethed. Jason doesn’t respond, unnerving the man even more. He’d gotten used to a talkative Jason, and while before he’d only ever promised violence with his words, their absence was beginning to cause the clown a great deal of discomfort. </p><p> </p><p>“What is your deal with me anyway?” he asks. “I mean, I get it, the crowbar? I’d be a little miffed too hahahaha, but to go this length? Haven’t you ever read any Buddha?” the Joker teases, trying to hide his fear behind a cloak of humor as he usually did. </p><p> </p><p>“Holding onto that much anger? It isn’t good for ya kid”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason turns the corner and narrowly avoids the swinging axe that propels itself out of the darkness. Before it can come swinging back, he draws out his batclaw and grapples across the dark opening, smashing through a plate glass window with one of the trademark grins plastered onto it. His pistols are instantly out, firing as he expertly puts down four goons who had been positioned here to stop the Batman.</p><p> </p><p>“No! No! NO!” the Joker screeches. “This is all wrong. This...this isn’t for you!”</p><p> </p><p>“So you keep saying” Jason retorts coldly, looking around the room which now resembled a makeshift court. He sees a bound, gagged and naked Jim Gordon seat on one of the chairs, and he moves over towards him. He pulls the gag down, allowing the man to breath freely. He takes one look up at Jason and begins to cry. <br/><br/>“Where is he?”</p><p> </p><p>He is soft with his words, softer than he had been with the man before. </p><p> </p><p>“He’s..he’s in the control room. It’s..down that tunnel but...you don’t want to go down there” he says, tears leaking down his eyes. That was something that set him deeply unease, as he had never seen the man cry before. He looks down the tunnel, seeing the faint red and purple glow emanating from it, but nothing else. He turns back to the commissioner. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s down there?”</p><p> </p><p>He remains silent, but looks back up, managing only to utter one word. “Bar..Barbara” he says before convulsing back into tears, lost to the world once more. <br/><br/></p><p>Whatever he had seen down there, might’ve driven him insane. He knew it very well might drive him insane. But he needed to see it, even if only to give him the added incentive to kill the clown. He begins to walk towards the mouth of the tunnel, leaving the crying man behind him.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t offer words of comfort. There are none. And he doesn’t untie him. If he did, he knew that he would try and stop him from doing what had to be done, and tonight? It ended. </p><p> </p><p>He enters into the tunnel, stepping into the bottom which was apparently lined with a few inches of water, meaning to be a tunnel of love. Music faintly played throughout, echoing up and down the walls. </p><p> </p><p>He moves forward, and enters into the light which grows brighter and brighter. He stops, his breath hitching and his body and mind unable to move and process what he was seeing at the same time. The walls were lined with pictures, projectors displaying them to the world.</p><p> </p><p>One was a picture of a pair of lips, blood dripping from the corner of the woman’s mouth. He knew it was a woman, and he know which woman too. “Barbara” he says, the pistol shaking in his hand as he grips it tighter. He walks forward, unable to avoid looking at the pictures.</p><p> </p><p>Joker had stripped her naked after shooting her. He’d taken pictures of every inch of her body, and put them on a macabre display. A testament to human suffering. </p><p> </p><p>‘Barbara’s suffering’ he reminds himself, seeing a door at the far end of the tunnel where a last picture was. He stops in front of it and turns, looking into the tear stained fearful eyes of the woman he loved. He kept looking, and he ingrained that image into his very soul. </p><p> </p><p>He knew that nothing could sway him away from his mission here tonight. <br/><br/>He kicks open the door, revealing a stairway going up, and without a moments hesitation he begins to climb it, the door at the second landing luring him on with the bright lights that emanated out from the cracks in its frame.</p><p> </p><p>He kicks it open and steps in, taking stock of the room. It was an apartment. Dingy. Supposed to be a one room. The ceiling had a table and chairs nailed into it, giving the appearance of it being upside down. </p><p> </p><p>He didn’t care what any of this meant. He didn’t care at all. He didn’t want to understand the Joker like Bruce. He didn’t want to cure him or help him like the staff at Arkham. </p><p> </p><p>He just wanted to kill him. End the suffering, end the mayhem. End it all.</p><p><br/>The displacement of air from behind him is a dead giveaway, and his training from his time with the League of Assassins kicks in. He ducks, turns and brings the pistol up right into the Joker’s forearm, blasting away and emptying the entire clip into the flesh. </p><p> </p><p>It tears away muscle, skin and bone, making the arm practically unusable. It hung, limply, held together by only a few ligaments and strings of cartilage. The man looks down in horror at his destroyed appendage, apparently never having expected the same damage that he’d meted out countless times upon others to be visited upon him. <br/><br/>He looks up at Jason, fear in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>This was definitely not going according to his plan.</p><p> </p><p>The Red Hood reaches out and grasps the arm, snapping and pulling it off the rest of the way, causing the clown themed villain to howl in anger as his arm is ripped away from him. He tries to staunch the blood with his free hand, though Jason quickly dissuades him of that notion. He slams him to the floor, his back against the wall.</p><p> </p><p>“He..he...this...is...an inopportune time to lose an appendage bird boy” he teases, trying to maintain control by talking. It was his go to tactic. Keep people off balance, get in their heads. Jason wasn’t about to let him do that.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut the fuck up” he says coldly before bringing his steel toed boot up and bringing it down on the man’s knee, snapping, breaking and shattering all the bones in the immediate area. The Joker howls in pain, unable to tend to himself as his arm had been ripped off. He was desperately trying to staunch the blood, even now. </p><p> </p><p>“So, what was this supposed to be?” Jason asks, almost disinterestedly as he loads another clip into his empty pistol. “Were you finally going to tell the Bat about how you became the sick, deluded freak you are?”</p><p> </p><p>Joker just laughs, looking up at the younger man and smiling. “Hehehehe...one bad day...that’s all it takes”.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah...I know about that”.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh that’s right...you do. I caused it didn’t I?” he asks, once more trying to get into the vigilante’s mind. “You did”.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I suppose blowing you to smithereens while rearranging your inner organs with a crowbar could be a pretty crappy day hehehehe”.</p><p> </p><p>“This has nothing to do with you killing me” Jason explains, shocking the man who had thought that mocking the former Boy Wonder for his death was his ace in the hole.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what the hell is this all about?” he gasps, trying to keep his pain in check. “Why did you go and ruin my surprise?”</p><p> </p><p>“Barbara Gordon”.</p><p> </p><p>“The commissioner’s daughter? OHHH! That’s right. I crippled her. What a cute little vegetable she makes. Did you enjoy my little slide show in the ha…”</p><p> </p><p>His smile. <br/><br/></p><p>He was smiling while talking about what he’d done. It was too much for Jason. He turns his pistol and leans down beginning to fiercely pistol whip Joker, right in the mouth. He doesn’t stop at once though. This wasn’t to get him to be quiet. This was vengeance.</p><p> </p><p>The snapping, cracking and breaking of teeth is music to Jason’s ears, and the gurgled screams only add to the pleasure he was getting out of this. “P..plea...se...no..no….” Joker manages, his breath and speech sending out the remains of his teeth and gums. Blood flew everywhere, and Jason didn’t mind that some got on his coat.</p><p> </p><p>“Fair enough” he says simply before standing up and surveying the room. “So...let me guess. Your whole point. You had a bad day and you wanted to prove that we’re all just like you right? That’s why you showed Gordon what you did to his daughter isn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Joker remains silent, gasping as his hand moves away from his stumped arm to check the damage to his face. “My...my tee...teet..”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. That was it wasn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason turns back and the clown looks up at him in fear. “We’re not all like you” he begins, reaching behind his head to undo the clasp of his mask. He undoes it, and the helmet drops away, revealing his face. </p><p> </p><p>“But maybe...hmm, maybe you’re like us” he teases, pressing the barrel of the gun to his chin. “Begging for mercy. How many people did you torture? And how many asked you the same thing?”</p><p> </p><p>He goes on. </p><p> </p><p>“I remember when you skinned Heather Adams alive. She was a barista at a local coffee shop. You wrapped up a few Christmas presents with her skin and sent them to her family. Her organs were the only thing in the boxes”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason closes his eyes and nods. “No. A normal person wouldn’t do that. You’re not one of us. You’ve always been a freak. An aberration. Something that should’ve never even existed”.</p><p> </p><p>“Thomas Whittmore. You burned his children alive in front of him while playing the ring of fire. They lived, but only because he broke free and rushed into the flames to save them. Four people, carrying your scars all over their bodies for the rest of their lives”.</p><p> </p><p>The Joker looks like he’s about to cry, though Jason pays no mind to the cathartic moment happening right in front of him. “Do you think about them? How they feel?”</p><p> </p><p>“You talk about the one bad day you had. I don’t give a fuck what it was. I couldn’t imagine it being worse than having to watch three of your children be burned, only to join them when you manage to pull them out of the fire”.</p><p> </p><p>“Or seeing a wrapped present made of your daughter’s or sister’s flesh, her heart inside. Yeah. I couldn’t imagine something worse than that. And those are just two of the victims of your sick little fucked up life”. Jason punctuates his words by rubbing the barrel of the pistol against the man’s temple. “You’re not afraid of dying are you? Part of me thinks you want to die. No..I know what you’re really afraid of”.</p><p> </p><p>“Despite the fact that you hide behind meaninglessness and think that nothing matters, one thing does matter to you doesn’t it?” he says with a chuckle. “Proving Batman wrong. You know you’re not going to be able to do that right? I mean, he didn’t even see any of this tonight. I got here first”.</p><p> </p><p>Joker glares, getting ready to lunge at the man in righteous fury. That is, until Jason put another round in his still usable kneecap. He’s about to fall over, but Jason steadies him, his hands on his shoulders in a mockingly comforting gesture. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re going to die a meaningless death. Isn’t that what you wanted for everyone else? To show them how...funny..life is? How we can all die in an instant. Isn’t that what you wanted?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going to be forgotten” Jason reiterates. “This city and its people are going to heal one day, or they’ll forget you because of some other madman who started making their lives hell. But the important thing is just how quickly they’ll forget you”.</p><p> </p><p>“They...they’ll...neve..forget”.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh they will. They will. Everyone will. Trust me. The world moves on, and without you in it? It’ll be a hell of a lot better” he says. </p><p> </p><p>Jason slowly stands and smiles down at the destroyed body of the Joker. “That’s the funniest thing. You got exactly what you wanted and didn’t at the same time. I was going to torture you. Maybe hit you with a crowbar, but to be honest...I think it’s more fitting. No grand display. No theatrics. Just you..me, and all these bullets” he teases, showcasing the pistol.</p><p> </p><p>Joker makes to say something, but his rage and fear make him unable to, not to mention the massive amount of damage sustained to his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“One last thing before you go...Barbara? She’s going to be fine too” he explains. “I’ll make sure of it. Did you know she was Batgirl?” he asks teasingly.</p><p> </p><p>Joker’s eyes go wide, apparently not having seen that twist coming. “Yeah. She’s Batgirl. You already know that Batman is Bruce Wayne. Lets be honest. You’ve been hiding that because you just can’t take it. You were obsessed and yet? Well..let’s just say you’re pathetic. Never proved anything. Meaningless. Forgotten. Trash”.</p><p> </p><p>The words echo through the Joker’s body as if they were bullets themselves, causing him to wince and moan. “No...never…”.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll let you get in one last speech. Convince me of something. Anything. Maybe even pull the bullshit you intended for Bruce on me. I like a good joke. Lets see if your last one is any good”.</p><p> </p><p>Joker smiles, though it’s a pained grimace. “All it takes...is..one…”</p><p> </p><p>The sound of a shot echoes out, giving the Joker just enough time to look shocked. Another one quickly goes out, popping his eyeball and burying itself in his mind, leaving the confused expression on his face and nothing more. Jason just keeps firing, emptying the clip into the clown’s head until his face is no longer recognizable. </p><p> </p><p>He drops the pistol, looking at the dead villain that had tormented Gotham and its citizens for so long. </p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help it. He brings his boot up one more time and slams it into the man’s jaw, dislocating it and causing it to hang at an awkward angle. “Let me help you with your last smile you bastard” he says to himself. </p><p> </p><p>A noise from the door behind him alerts him to another presence, and he knows exactly who it is. He raises his head and without turning begins to speak. “You’re too late” he says. Slowly he turns around looking at Batman. </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry Bruce”.</p><p> </p><p>“Jason…” he begins, his voice a curious monotone. </p><p> </p><p>“You were here to kill him too” he says quickly, sending the man for a loop. “I can sense it you know. Tahlia taught me a lot of things that I remember through the haze. How to tell when someone is a threat, or if they intend to pull the trigger or not. She taught me how to recognize a killer”.</p><p> </p><p>“I see it all over you” he says quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Bruce just looks away, turning back towards the corpse of the clown.</p><p> </p><p>“You should’ve done this a long time ago”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason feels the tears begin to slip down his cheeks but he is able to keep his composure. “I never would’ve died. So many people wouldn’t have had to bury loved ones. Barbara…” he lets the last word trail off, not ready to talk about that yet. </p><p> </p><p>The two remain silent, not wanting to have the debate they’d already had countless times before yet again. “How’s Gordon?”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s fine. He’s being tended to by paramedics” Bruce says.</p><p> </p><p>“Ahh, that’s good. Do you think he’ll be okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“He still has his daughter...that’s more than many people can say”</p><p> </p><p>The two fall into an easy silence once more, though there was one question that still hung in the air. “What happens now?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you asking if I’m going to bring you in?”</p><p> </p><p>“No” Jason says with a smirk. “I wouldn’t let you even if you tried. I mean, what happens now, with our little family?”</p><p> </p><p>Bruce turns towards the window and looks out over the Gotham skyline. “Leave. I didn’t see you here” he explains. Jason understands quickly, knowing that Gordon would clear up any misunderstanding on the part of GCPD. The Joker was killed by the Red Hood, and everybody knew that there wasn’t a single prosecutor in the city who’d bring charges. <br/><br/>Jason nods, knowing that the important task of healing was now in front of him, and Barbara. </p><p> </p><p>“Jason” Bruce says one last time, causing the man to stop in his tracks. </p><p> </p><p>“We have had our disagreements. I have failed you in many ways. As a father, a mentor and a friend. There isn’t a way to say sorry”.</p><p> </p><p>“So don’t try”.</p><p> </p><p>Bruce just nods, before adding his final word on the matter. “Take care of her”.</p><p> </p><p>“I will”.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>A Week Later, Gotham General Hospital</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Barbara was sitting up in bed, her back having to be heavily supported by a pillow in order to keep her upright. Her hand was on a remote, and her eyes were on the television, though her mind refused to focus on it. She couldn’t...not on anything.</p><p> </p><p>She looks down at her legs once again, the inescapable fact of their uselessness implanting itself in her mind.</p><p> </p><p>A distraction comes quickly though, in the form of a knock on the door frame. She looks up to see Jason standing there, flowers in his hands. “Hey Barbara. How you feeling today?” he asks, walking in and sitting down next to her bed in the chair. She smiles as she feels his lips against her cheek, though the happiness is stunted. She had to talk with him, and she knew that it would be one of the hardest things she’d ever have to do. </p><p> </p><p>“Jason...more flowers?” she asks teasingly, wanting to lighten the mood a bit, if only for a bit. </p><p> </p><p>He smiles and shrugs. “What can I say...I’m a romantic” he teases before turning serious and placing them on the vase beside the bed. “How are you?”<br/><br/></p><p>She avoids the question and looks away, “I saw my dad today”. </p><p> </p><p>“Ohh? And how is he doing?” </p><p> </p><p>“He’s better..fussing over me. He’s not the only one. Alfred, Dick and Dinah have been in every day. I’m beginning to feel crowded” she laughs before reaching out and taking his hand. “Jason...we need to talk”.</p><p> </p><p>“I was wondering when you’d get to the point” he says, taking her hand and squeezing it within his. She closes her eyes, the tears beginning to leak out. “I...wanted to say that...I understand”.</p><p> </p><p>“Understand what?”</p><p> </p><p>“You...leaving” she says, unable to get the rest of the words out. </p><p> </p><p>Jason just sits their in mute silence, closing his eyes and collecting himself. “What makes you think I’m leaving?”</p><p> </p><p>“Look at me!” she hisses, gesturing towards her legs. “I’m a cripple! Utterly fucking useless. I’d never be able to make you happy, and all you’d ever do is wind up taking care of me. I...I can’t offer you anything” she says, descending into a fit of sobs. </p><p> </p><p>Jason is quick to reach out and take her by the chin, gently, forcing her to look into his eyes. “That’s not what I see Barbara Gordon”.</p><p> </p><p>“I still see Batgirl. The hero who put her life on the line everyday for no thanks whatsoever”.</p><p> </p><p>“I can never be her again! Don’t you under..”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not done!” he says a little harshly, though he leans in to kiss her lips, taking some of the venom out of the statement. “I still see Barbara Gordon. The technie nerd who picked on me when I first put on the mask and cape. The girl I fell in love with. The girl I thought of first when my mind came back to me. I’ve dreamed about you every night for the last seven years Barb” he explains.</p><p> </p><p>He begins to gently trace her cheek with his thumb. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t care that I’d have to take care of you. I already planned on it beforehand with how you drive yourself. But now? I need to be there with you, and not only that...I WANT to”.</p><p> </p><p>She begins crying, not able to take his words. “Jason…”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you still want to be Barbara Todd?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes...I do, more than anything else but it’s not fair to you…”</p><p> </p><p>“Let me worry about whats fair Barb. Alright? You worry about remembering how much of a badass you are, and acting like it again, okay?” he explains. He kisses her passionately once again, taking all his desire and pouring it into the kiss. He releases her, though he stays close, their breath mingling with one another’s as she and he stay close.</p><p> </p><p>“The Barb I know isn’t an idiot, so stop saying and thinking stupid things”.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a jerk you know that?” she says, laughing through her tears. “As long as I’m yours, call me whatever you want” he says. “Now...let’s see about breaking you out of this place” he says, looking around. “Jason! What are you going to do...carry me down the fire escape? My dad would have your head!” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t lie, you like the thought. A little chivalrous and romantic isn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>“.....yes”.</p><p>
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  <b> <em>Four Years Later</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!” </p><p> </p><p>Jason murrs and moans, turning in bed as he feels the weight settle on his chest. “Sheila..baby...it’s got to be what..” he asks, blinking and turning in bed to look at the alarm clock, who’s hazy green numbers don’t immediately pop out at him. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s 6:30, can’t we sleep in?”</p><p> </p><p>The little girl pouts, her little lips quivering. “But daddy it’s Christmas”.</p><p> </p><p>“No it’s not, that’s next week”.</p><p> </p><p>“Nuh uh, it’s today. I checked the calendar and called Grandpa Jim and Grandpa Bruce and Uncle Tim and Dick and Alfred and Aunt Dinah and they said they’d come over today because it’s Christmas!” she says, jumping on the bed and waking Barbara. </p><p> </p><p>“Huh, where’s the emergency?” she moans quietly, turning and cuddling into Jason. This quickly attracts Sheila’s attention and she rubs her mother’s shoulders. “Mommy..it’s Christmas..I know it is. I double, triple, quadruple checked!” she says. “But he says it isn’t”.</p><p><br/>“Jason…” she says, laughing into her husband’s chest and gently groping the fabric of his t shirt. He leans down to kiss her head and smiles. “Alright, you got me fair and square baby. Mommy and I are getting up” he says. “YAAAY!” the energetic little eight year old says, jumping off the bed. “I made mommy and you pancakes!”</p><p> </p><p>She rushes out of the room and Barbara’s eyes shoot wide open. “Ohh no...that means…”</p><p> </p><p>“The kitchen is destroyed yup but it’s the thought that counts”. He begins to rub her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“Umm, mister...we gotta get up”.</p><p> </p><p>“All no cuddling?”</p><p> </p><p>“Cuddling is never the only thing you want” she teases, swatting his hands away. “Besides, Sheila is going to get so excited she’s going to open all the presents before we even get out of bed, and I really wanna see her face when she opens her new PC”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason smiles at his wife’s back as she scoots up in bed, reaching out for her brush and running it through her red locks. “Are you sure we adopted her?” he teases, rubbing her shoulders. “Because our little girl is exactly like you”.</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm...Jason, that feels so nice…” she moans before shaking her head. “No, no mister. Out of bed. It’s christmas”.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches for the wheelchair she’d parked beside their bed until she’s stopped by Jason hopping over the bed, and preventing her from moving further. “Jason, I need this…”</p><p> </p><p>“Uhh uhh. I’m carrying you” he says, lifting her up bridal style and causing her to yelp in shock and excitement. “Let me go you neanderthal”.</p><p> </p><p>“Nope. This is the only way I can capitalize on trapping you under the mistletoe” he teases, kissing her lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Pfft...alright...but you’re going to carry me everywhere today then. And it’s going to get crazy with Tim and Stephanie and Bruce and Selina and Dinah and…”<br/><br/></p><p>“Yeah yeah I get it” he says, smooching her again while exiting the door of their bedroom into the hall. “All the better to keep you by me anyways” he adds, moving down the stairs. “Also...it’s good exercise”.</p><p> </p><p>She swats his chest. “I’m not a dumbbell you know”.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re right..you’re way to beautiful to be a dumb bell”.</p><p> </p><p>“Mommy daddy? How do you fry bacon?” Sheila calls from the kitchen causing the two to grimace. “Don’t do anything till we get there sweetie!” Barbara calls out. </p><p> </p><p>“But i’ve already got it boiling!” she calls back, causing Jason to laugh. </p><p> </p><p>“She’s as hopeless at cooking as you too”.</p><p> </p><p>That earns him another swat, which earns her another kiss. </p><p> </p><p>It was the most enjoyable tit for tat they’d each ever experienced.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <b> <em>The Batcave, Six Years ago</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>The batmobile rumbled down the ramp, turning and stopping on a dime when it gets to the round platform that holds it. Barbara was standing next to the batcomputer, halfheartedly checking for any leads or emergencies that might erupt in Gotham while they were “off duty”.</p><p> </p><p>She hadn’t even taken her costume off.</p><p> </p><p>The canopy hisses open, one person already miffed as usual. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad!” Robin, a.k.a Jason Todd shouts out at Batman, who pointedly ignores him and keeps walking away, heading towards Barbara.</p><p> </p><p>‘Uhh ohh, this will be good’ she thinks with a smile, making sure to stay close enough to hear the developing fight between the hero and his sidekick.</p><p> </p><p>“You let Ivy distract you” Batman growls, setting himself down in the chair in front of the batcomputer. “You knew her MO, yet you let her use it against you. It was more than sloppy”.</p><p> </p><p>Barbara grimaced a little, looking over teasingly at the slightly younger man wearing the Robin costume. He pulls off his mask, revealing his entire face. His blush was endemic, and Barbara was equal parts pleased and miffed herself about it. “Look, alright, she came out, wearing practically nothing. How the hell was I supposed to focus?”</p><p> </p><p>Batman turns abruptly, glaring at his protege. “You were supposed to focus on the mission” he reiterates. “When you lose focus, people get hurt, and if all it takes is a pair of breasts to take your eyes off of our goal, then you’re not suited to be here”.</p><p> </p><p>The words hurt, and even Barbara winced at their severity. ‘Too far Bruce’ she thinks, knowing that it wasn’t wise to speak out at this moment. Jason’s face drops, and he looks away, never being able to take criticism, especially Bruce’s, without feeling hurt. Bruce just turns back to the screen and scans the accumulated information. He growls to himself when he sees nothing pressing or important, and reaches out to switch of the monitor. He gets up, pushes the chair back, and walks towards the exit of the bat cave, heading up into the manor. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t say a word, and he just disappears, slipping into the mask he wore as Bruce Wayne effortlessly. Jason? He wore his mask less easily, and his emotions played out on his face as if it were a movie screen. Barbara couldn’t let this stand, and she walks over to the younger man, placing a hand on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, it’s alright. We all get distracted from time to time. You? That distraction just happens to be villainesses with nice racks” she says teasingly, knowing how to get the boy cheered up.</p><p> </p><p>It works. He laughs, smiles and pushes her off of him.</p><p> </p><p>“Pfft, get lost Barb”.</p><p> </p><p>She holds her hands up in mock surrender. “Hey it’s fine. Bruce himself got distracted like that once. Ask him about Tahlia Al Ghul and watch how he tries to change the subject. Classic”.</p><p> </p><p>The two laugh, sharing a certain camaraderie that put them both at ease.</p><p> </p><p>Aside from Alfred, the other was each’s rock in the storm, even if Jason was a little bit less experienced. </p><p> </p><p>The laughter dies down and Jason moves to the computer, turning the monitor on and beginning to scan the streets himself, obviously wanting to score back some points with Bruce by being vigilant. Barbara watches him, feeling her smile fall as she looks down and quickly gauges her own curves.</p><p>
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</p><p>She frowns, knowing that even with her recent developments, she was far off from being anywhere near the plant based bombshell. </p><p> </p><p>“Sooo...what was it about Ivy that attracted you the most?” she asks, moving towards the computer and leaning against it, taking out a batarang and a rag, pretending to polish it. Jason’s fingers stop moving over the keyboard and he turns to look at his friend and fellow vigilante. “Ohh ummm...I don’t know” he says, trying to give her the brush off.</p><p> </p><p>She just frowns, not buying his excuse at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, tell me. I wanna know what makes you tick”.</p><p> </p><p>“Why would you wanna know that?”</p><p> </p><p>“In case you ever go evil and I need to find a chick to distract you while I sneak around and knock you out”.</p><p> </p><p>He snorts, laughing at the idea put before him. “Like that would ever happen. You’re starting to sound paranoid. Like..”</p><p> </p><p>“Bruce” the both of them saying at the same time, followed by loud laughter. It calms down and the silence returns, though it was clear that Barbara was refusing to let the subject drop. “Sooo...are you going to tell me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Tell you what?”</p><p> </p><p>“What it is about Poison Ivy that you like so much?” she reiterates. “I mean, this isn’t exactly the first time that she’s gotten one over on you. Let me guess...its her tits”.</p><p> </p><p>“Barbara!” he says, a little scandalized. “What? That’s what they are. Why shouldn’t I call them that?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason just shuffles in the chair, uncomfortable. “Well yeah but, girls aren’t supposed to say that and no, while her boo...tits, are very nice, it’s...well it’s not that” he says, mumbling the last part. She rolls her eyes, hating how she had to always pull the answer out of the boy. “Well, if it isn’t her massive chest, what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Red hair”.</p><p> </p><p>The words were mumbled, but she could still make them out, even as Jason turns back to the computer, trying to focus on the issue at hand. “What was that?” she asked, a little shocked. She’d expected the answer to be dirty in nature but...red hair? That just seemed so innocent. </p><p> </p><p>He huffs in annoyance and turns in the chair, looking at Barbara. “You heard me. Alright? Red hair..I like her red hair” he sighs. “I guess it’s just, the way she sometimes plays with it. It’s colorful and nice and...well it looks soft alright? And sometimes I like looking at it, and...well, usually it’s not a good idea when a crime is being committed but still. Alright? There, happy?”</p><p> </p><p>He turns back in the chair, now sporting a bright red blush on his cheeks. Barbara was just smiling, dopily to herself. She had no idea why the fact that Jason liked red hair so much made her happy, but she did know that it did.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh...so you’re the head of the Poison Ivy fanclub...because she has red hair?” she chuckles. </p><p> </p><p>He remains silent, ignoring her and reminding her of Bruce at the same time. “I mean, that’s fine. Half the guys in the city like her for her tits, and the other half her butt, but you? You’re the one guy who likes her hair. That’s fine. It’s good to be unique”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason was now giving her the silent treatment, apparently not liking how she had just weasled the information out of him and was now using it to tease him. She narrows her eyes and glares at the side of the boy’s head before smiling once again. </p><p> </p><p>She knew how to get his attention.</p><p> </p><p>“You should tell her, not that it would matter” she begins, returning to polishing the batarang. “I mean, there’s no way she’d like a fourteen year old boy who hasn’t even kissed a girl, but hey? She might think it’s cute and go easy on you next time”.</p><p> </p><p>The chair shoots back instantly, and Jason stands up, the serious facade he had tried to cultivate recently falling away at the challenge to his manly virtue. “I have too kissed a girl” he says, causing Barbara to almost choke on the laughter that was bubbling up in her chest. </p><p> </p><p>“Sure, and I’m Wonder Woman. What was her name?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason opens his mouth to speak before closing it, averting his eyes as well, giving the lie away. “Ahh, so a mystery girl. Hmm? What was her name, come on..tell me”.</p><p> </p><p>“Umm...Samantha”.</p><p> </p><p>“And where did you meet this Samantha?”</p><p> </p><p>“School. You wouldn’t know her” he says quickly, trying to preempt anymore questions. </p><p> </p><p>Barbara crosses her arms under her chest and smirks, loving every moment of this. “Alright, prove it”.</p><p> </p><p>“Prove what?”</p><p> </p><p>“Prove that you’ve been to the moon! Prove that you’ve kissed a girl, duhhh!” she says, knowing that she was slowly cornering him. She loved this feeling. Especially with him.</p><p> </p><p>He seemed exasperated by the question, and he threw his hands up. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, if you really did kiss her, you could call he…”</p><p> </p><p>“She moved away…” he says quickly, trying to cut her suggestion off at the pass. Barbara quirks an eyebrow, conks out her hip and places her hand on it. Jason slowly moves his eyes to her hip, admiring the position she was in. He swallows a bit, feeling nervous.</p><p> </p><p>“Convenient” she teases. “Alright, so we go to plan B”.</p><p> </p><p>“Which is?”</p><p> </p><p>“You kiss me, to show that you know how to kiss, after all, if you’ve done it before, it wouldn’t be a problem”.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t kiss you!” Jason says, a little scandalized.</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t know why, but his quick reaction to the suggestion hurt her. She glares at him, both hands on her hips now in an admonishing way. “Why not?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because...well…”</p><p> </p><p>“What? You’ll think about kissing Poison Ivy and this Samantha girl, but not me? What is it, am I not as pretty as them?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s not it, you’re gorgeous Barb” he says, letting the words slip out of his mouth before he could stop them. He looks away, coughing into his gloved hand to avoid her stare. She blushes first, never having been called “gorgeous” before. Slowly she smiles, a very wide open smile that encompasses almost her entire face.</p><p> </p><p>‘Me, the nerd...gorgeous’ she thinks.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, if you think I’m pretty, have kissed a girl before, and know what you’re doing, come over here and prove it to me” she teases, leaning back against the computer. Jason looks up and sighs. “You’re not going to stop with this are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nope” she teases, a loud popping sound echoing out with the p.</p><p><br/>“Alright, sure but…”</p><p> </p><p>“But what, just get over here and kiss me”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason moves over slowly, unsure of his steps almost and the nervousness clear on his face. “Alright, whatever. It’s just a kiss” he says, his voice giving it away that this was anything but nothing to him. “Uhhmm, so just kiss me. I’m sure it won’t be any different from Samantha” she says, hearing the muffled, “I doubt it” from Jason. The dark haired boy stops a few inches in front of her, their closeness suddenly giving Barbara a reason for nervousness. The teasing smile falls away from her mouth, and she notices for the first time that Jason was now taller than her. Only an inch or so, but still…<br/><br/></p><p>“Alright so...I’ll walk you through what I did” he says, causing her to nod while trying to swallow the lump in her throat. “Alright, well first, I put my hands on her waist. Don’t...really know why, I guess I just saw it in movies and it felt good”.</p><p> </p><p>His green gloved hands reach out and rest on her midsection, a respectful distance from below. Even though the touch seemed normal and in line with what they were doing, she still felt her heartbeat increase. “Uhhmm..interesting tactic”. She was still trying to pretend to be in control, playing off her status as the older girl who knew how the world worked teaching the younger boy. In reality? She felt just as nervous and new as he did. </p><p> </p><p>“After that, I...closed my eyes and….” he says, indeed closing his eyes and beginning to lean in. Barbara herself closes her eyelids, and leans up and inwards, her arm reaching out and wrapping gently around his shoulder on instinct.</p><p> </p><p>Their bodies were pulling themselves together, and their lips were only mere inches from one another, their breaths coming out and mingling with each other in the space between. Jason couldn’t help but smell her, enjoying the fragrance she used while showering. </p><p> </p><p>“What did you do next?” she asked, excitement in her voice as she waited for that moment that she so desperately now wanted to happen. Without words, Jason leans in, and presses his lips against hers. </p><p> </p><p>He stays still, remaining there and only slightly moving them against each other. It’s over in another second, as Jason pulls back, bewilderment on his face as he looks down at a gently smiling Barbara. “Well...yeah, that’s it”.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh? Really…”</p><p> </p><p>“Was it...any good?”</p><p><br/>“I don’t know Jason. That was my first kiss” she admits with a sheepish smile. </p><p> </p><p>He’s flabbergasted and looks at her with curiosity. “I thought you’d already kissed a guy before?!” he asks loudly. “I never said I did!” she defends herself, still with their arms around one another. It grows silent between the two, and eventually Jason sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“I lied about Samantha. She doesn’t exist”.</p><p> </p><p>“I never would’ve known” she teases, her hand moving to his cheek. “So..I was your first kiss to huh? Funny...you didn’t turn into a prince like in the fairytales”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason just rolls his eyes, leaning into her touch. “Because I’m not a frog. I’m a Robin” he teases back.</p><p> </p><p>“Ahh, so you just turned into a nervous boy instead. How is it that you can face down Riddler with a smile, but get all nervous at the thought of kissing me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because...I care about you” he admits, causing her heartbeat to speed up once again. “It’s easy to fight criminals, because I don’t care what they think. They’re criminals. I just punch them and they go to jail. That’s how this is supposed to go. But...I care about what you think of me, so..I didn’t want you to think I was a bad kisser”.</p><p> </p><p>She smiles, reaching up and teasing her fingers through his hair, suddenly remembering something and seeing it as a way to change the topic back to embarrassing him. “Whose hair do you like better? Mine or Ivy’s?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yours” he says, without missing a beat. “Because it’s attached to you”.</p><p> </p><p>She smiles widely and bites her lip, deciding on a new course of action. “Well Jason, you’re an alright kisser. Buuut….I think we could both use some more practice, don’t you think?”</p><p> </p><p>He just nods, their blue eyes both starring at each other. Barbara initiates this time, her hand goes once more to his cheek, and she whispers against him. “Open your mouth, just a little bit, so our lips fit together instead of just pressing against each other” she says. Jason immediately does as she asks, and his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her in even tighter. </p><p> </p><p>They kiss a second time, her hands movie to his back and pulling him to her just as he crushes her body against his own by his grip on her waist. She gently begins to knead his lips with her own, Jason being a quick study begins to do the same.</p><p> </p><p>“Where did you learn how to do that?”</p><p> </p><p>She smiles up at him and lays her head against his chest, idly rubbing the R symbol on his right pectoral. “I did some research” she admits. “Bookworm” he teases back while pressing his nose to her hair, taking in her scent. She moves up to kiss him again, and just manages to make contact when they are interrupted.</p><p> </p><p>“Master Jason, Miss Gordon, I’ve brought some dinner..my word!” Alfred says, almost dropping the tray of food as he sees the two teens in an embrace. Jason and Barbara both jump back, blushing at having been caught by the loveable butler. “Well..pardon my intrusion” the man says, a smile on his face as he turns and places the tray down on the table. “I do hope that you two will behave yourselves” he warns, a fatherly tone that he used on everyone coming through. “Alfred we...we...were just kissing!” Jason says, trying to defend themselves.</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh I’m quite aware of what you were doing Master Jason” he teases, turning and making to move back into the manor. He stops and turns one last time. “Miss Gordon, it is getting late. Perhaps you should return home before your father’s shift ends. As I seem to recall, it is a school night as well” he says, mirth on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes Alfred” she says, rubbing her own arm nervously. The butler doesn’t say anything else, and simply leaves the two alone, trusting them to make the right decisions. “I..he’s right. I better get going” she says, making to walk towards the exit of the batcave. It wasn’t too long of a trek across the city, and she knew she could make it in half an hour.</p><p> </p><p>Jason reaches out and stops her, his hand gently on her upper arm. She turns, shocked, but he suavely pulls her in and presses one last kiss on her lips. It’s quick, passionate and open. She barely has enough time to respond until it’s over. She looks at him, breathlessly unable to respond, as he rubs the back of his head. “A kiss goodnight isn’t too out of line is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“No..” she says appreciatively, feeling like her knees were jello. </p><p> </p><p>“Goodnight Barbara” he says. </p><p> </p><p>“Goodnight Jason. Let’s, do this again?”</p><p> </p><p>The nervousness in her voice is mirrored on Jason’s face, and he nods quickly, eagerly. “Anytime you want” he says. “I’ll hold you too that”. She begins walking backwards, her yellow boots impacting against the floor. “I better not find out you’re practicing with any other girls” she teases, well, half teases.</p><p> </p><p>“You won’t” he promises, and she believes him.</p><p> </p><p>“Goodnight”.</p><p> </p><p>“Goodnight”.</p><p> </p><p>She stands there for a few more minutes, the two just watching each other, neither wanting to leave, but knowing that they had to. There would be other times, many more times, and they each had their dreams to retreat too.</p><p> </p><p>Jason for one knew that he he would be dreaming about red hair tonight. </p><p> </p><p>And it wouldn’t be Poison Ivy’s.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>The Present, Gotham City, Apartment of Jason and Barbara Todd</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“And well...that was our first kiss” Barbara says, rubbing the sick little girl’s back. Jason was on her other side, a box of tissues ready in his hand. It was raining heavily, and would be all weekend, so the entire Todd family was stuck in the house.</p><p> </p><p>“But...Uncle Dick always teases daddy that he was your first kiss” Sheila says, causing the two to blush. “When does he say that?” Barbara asks, glaring at Jason for holding back information. He just shrugs. “Eh, we’ve had a few spats and he likes throwing that in my face”.</p><p> </p><p>“That is unbelievably cruel...and untrue!” she says quickly, remembering that their daughter was in bed with them and knowing they had to hide what Dick really meant. Sheila sniffles and reaches out for a tissue, Jason bringing the box in for her. She smiles up at him, takes a tissue, and blows her little nose, handing the crumpled paper off to her father who throws it in the garbage pail next to the bed. </p><p> </p><p>“Your daddy was my first kiss, and my best” Barbara reiterates, running her hands through her daughter’s dark brown hair. She smiles at Jason, reaching out to take his hand. “And he still is”.</p><p> </p><p>“Then why did you date Uncle Dick?” she asks, the innocence of youth not allowing her to see the nuance and grey to life. Barbara smiles sadly, remembering the past. “Well, we told you how daddy...went away for a little while, because of a bad man right?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheila nods, allowing her mother to go on.</p><p> </p><p>“Well..when daddy went away, I was very sad. And alone. Uncle Dick was there and he was nice to me and he was a good friend, he helped me through it. But..being with him, like I’d always wanted to be with your daddy? It wasn’t a good idea, and I got hurt really bad”.</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason picks up from here, sensing that it was a difficult topic for his wife to talk about, his death and the time after it. “Well, Uncle Dick, he’s kind of a jerk to women sometimes. He was with mommy AND another woman at the same time which, well, that’s never cool”.</p><p> </p><p>The little girl nods and makes an “ohhhh” sound, as if she finally understood. “But were you really upset? Or just fake upset? Because I see in movies that if someone doesn’t really like someone, they only pretend to be upset, which is also a mean thing to do because you’re lying but never as mean as doing the first thing which made the other person sa…mmmnnnm mnnnfffnf” Sheila begins, before being cut off by her father gently covering her mouth with his hand. </p><p> </p><p>She keeps talking, her words muffled under the  man’s hand, but she gives her damndest and keeps going. Barbara can’t help but laugh hysterically, covering her own mouth with her hand. “Ohh god, sweetie...your motor mouth syndrome drives daddy insane and you know it”.</p><p> </p><p>Jason just laughs as well, the little girl turning towards him, now quiet, and looking up at him with her bright blue eyes. “If I take my hand away, will you let us answer your questions, one at a time” he emphasizes, “without asking questions at a thousand miles a minute?” he teases.</p><p> </p><p>She nods her head and says a muffled, “I promise”.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, good” he says, pulling his hand away. Sheila goes to open her mouth but her father raises his eyebrows and she stops, making a zipping motion and turning back to her mother, motioning for her to finish. “Where even was I?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Leaving uncle Dick”</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh oh, right. Well, I wasn’t upset per se. I mean, yes. It was mean of him to cheat, buuut….it gave me an out” she explains. “You see, when your daddy came back, he was...different, and him and grandpa Bruce were always fighting. It wasn’t his fault but it still kept us apart. And I was with your uncle but I still wanted your daddy. Anyways, eventually, he calmed down, mellowed out and got back on board with our family. I wanted to go right back to him that day he came back to Wayne manor” she says, biting her lip and blushing.</p><p> </p><p>“Your dad was hot stuff sweetie” she teases, wanting to get under Sheila’s skin. It works. “Mommmy...ewww! That’s my daddy!” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“So? Mommys can think daddys are good looking! And yours? Mmm...he was a cute boy, but after all those years of training? He was a handsome man”</p><p> </p><p>Jason just laughs, always being a little embarrassed about how his wife talked about him, but quickly he joins in. “It was the same here. The last time I saw your mom, she was a gangly teenage nerd. Don’t get me wrong, she was still gorgeous, but when I came back? Well, she was still a nerd, but now she was also a bombshell. Puts Ivy to shame everytime” he teases, causing Barbara to blush and look away, thoroughly enjoying a taste of her own medicine. She squeezes his hand lovingly in return. </p><p> </p><p>Sheila brushes past it, still to young to understand physical attraction. “Then what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, your daddy and I avoided each other, for a while. We danced around it and tried to pretend that those feelings were gone, but...I still loved him so much. And one night….we kissed” she says, her mind going back to that night. </p><p> </p><p>“We’d just beaten the Scarecrow, and we were on a roof watching the police clean up the mess. We were teasing each other, joking and laughing, and it was just like how it used to be. Too much like how it used to be. Before I knew it, I was kissing him”.</p><p> </p><p>“And I was kissing her right back” Jason interjects.</p><p> </p><p>“Awww” Sheila says.</p><p> </p><p>“But, I was with Uncle Dick. So this was wrong and...I stopped it. Even though I didn’t want to. I told your daddy that even though I still loved him, things had changed and I had to leave”.</p><p> </p><p>“No! You didn’t!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey sweetie, sweetie, relax” Jason says, rubbing his daughter’s shoulders as he knew how she could get. “It all worked out. After all, we’re here aren’t we?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh...right...then what happened? And what did you say daddy?”</p><p> </p><p>Barbara smiles, loving how excitable and invested her daughter would get. She looks up at Jason, urging him with her eyes to tell Sheila what he had said. “Well, I told her that I would win her back, no matter what”.</p><p> </p><p>“Your daddy is very competitive, especially with Uncle Dick”.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it because he was Robin first?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yes and no, mostly it’s because he’s a dick” Jason says, drawing a glare from Barbara causing him to realize his faux paus. “His name!” he says, trying to salvage the situation. “Is what I mean”.</p><p> </p><p>This confuses Sheila who looks at him askance. “You fight with Uncle Dick because his nickname is Dick?”</p><p> </p><p>“....Yes”.<br/><br/></p><p>Sheila looks at her father, a little disbelievingly before she just nods and smiles. “Okay. Tissue please?” she asks again, reaching out and clenching and unclenching her little hand. Jason smiles and hands the box over, allowing her to take a napkin and blow her nose again, repeating the procedure from before. </p><p> </p><p>“Nice save” Barbara whispers, a warning look in her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Then what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>“I went home, trying to put everything behind me, and when I opened the door, Uncle Dick had another girl there and they were...kissing” she explains, trying to coach what had happened in child friendly terms. “But...weren’t you kissing daddy?” she asks. “So..you both did bad right?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason’s eyes shoot open, and a smirk comes to his face. He crosses his arms over his chest and smirks. “Yeah mom, explain that” he says.<br/><br/>Barbara blushes, trying to save the situation and for once hating that her daughter was already so smart that she picked up on that. “It was different sweetie” she explains. “I..well, Uncle Dick was hiding it from me, and he kept doing it! I stopped after I realized it was wrong, and was going to tell him but he knew it was wrong and kept going. Does that make sense?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh...okay. That makes sense” she says. </p><p> </p><p>“So...I packed my stuff and left, going right to daddy’s apartment and now here we are”.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a nice story” Sheila says, yawning as another peel of thunder crashes through the Gotham sky. “You tired sweetie?”</p><p> </p><p>“Only a little…” she says, and Jason smiles, leaning down and kissing his daughter on the cheek. “There is only one girl who beats your mother in the kissing department though” he says, a wry smile on his face while Sheila gasps and Barbara looks hurt. “Sorry babe, but it’s true, there’s only one girl who beats you out”.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy!! That’s so mean!” she says. </p><p> </p><p>“I know, but it is your fault” he says right back, causing confusion. “What do you mean daddy?” she asks before the man lunges forward to tickle her and smother her face in kisses, causing the girl to burst out into laughter. “You! You stole my heart!” he teases, causing Barbara to smile as it all clicked together. She joins in and tickles the little girl’s belly as well. “Ahh so YOU’RE the other woman huh? You stole my husband from me?” she teases, kissing her daughter’s forehead.<br/><br/></p><p>“PLEASE!! UNCLE!!” she says, letting the two parents know that they needed to hold off. They stop, cuddling their daughter close as her giggles slowly cease until she just yawns again, closing her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>They look at each other and pull the blanket up over the lightly snoring girl, who cuddles into her pillow. Her hands reach out, her face scrunching as she doesn’t find what she’s looking for. Jason quickly reaches out and places her teddy bear within her grasp, her arms wrapping around the stuffed animal tightly.</p><p> </p><p>Barbara moves onto the bed and lays down on her side, one hand on Sheila. Jason reaches out and places his hand over hers on their daughter. Their fingers intermingle and they just keep smiling at each other. </p><p> </p><p>“Even after all this time...are you sure it’s all worth it?” she asks. Jason just smiles, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips, kissing it lightly. “More than worth it. This is the most amazing life anyone has ever lived. You’re my second chance Barb. My angel”.</p><p> </p><p>The former batgirl smiles and swallows, holding back the tears. “You’re my angel...Jason”.</p><p> </p><p>Lightning flashes in the sky, and over Gotham the bat symbol illuminates the area above the GCPD. “Well, he never rests” Jason says, looking at the two women who were the most important thing in his life. “He’ll call if he needs me. I’ll just tell him I was...distracted”.</p><p>Barbara laughs aloud, nuzzling into the pillow. “As long as I’m the only thing that distracts you, I’m fine with that.</p>
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